/r/nonmurdermysteries

Photograph via snooOG

A place to share non-gruesome mysteries.


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  3. Don't be a jerk. Racism, sexism, hate towards LGBTQ folks, and general douchebaggery will not be tolerated.

Related Subreddits

/r/UnresolvedMysteries

/r/RBI

/r/Lost_Films

/r/lostmedia

/r/missingmap

/r/TrueCrimeDiscussion

/r/WithoutATrace

/r/UnsolvedMurders

/r/UnsolvedMysteries

/r/UnexplainedPhotos

/r/CreepyWikipedia

/r/iwanttobelieve

/r/AnomaliesUnleashed

/r/mysteriesoftheworld

/r/Geedis

/r/RedditCrimeCommunity

/r/History_Mysteries


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/r/nonmurdermysteries

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89

Remember the original The Sims (2000)? By holding ⇧ Shift and clicking the "Select or Create Family" button on the Neighborhood screen, you will see icons with the face of a mysterious person in the Select-A-Family menu. I wonder who this man is? 🤔

9 Comments
2024/11/28
04:28 UTC

979

It looks like that story of unsolved hijacker D. B. Cooper's parachute being found, has been debunked. The mystery is still ongoing.

An aviation YouTuber called Dan Gryder has been claiming that he'd found the mysterious unidentified skyjacker's parachute, used in his 1971 airplane heist.

The man known as D. B. Cooper hijacked a plane in Portland, on Thanksgiving Eve 53 years ago. He demanded and received $200,000 ransom money and parachutes, before releasing the passengers in Seattle. Cooper then jumped from the jet at 10,000 ft, never to be seen again.

Gryder claims Cooper was a man named McCoy, who was one of many copycat hijackers who tried skyjacking planes in the months after Cooper's crime. Dan Gryder said he found the parachute that Cooper jumped with, on the McCoy family farm.

But now, expert D. B. Cooper mystery researchers have debunked that. Original FBI investigation documents prove that the parachute Gryder/McCoy's family found is not the model that Cooper used, as Gryder had claimed.

The search for the identity of the real D. B. Cooper continues.

Link is to news article on Coast to Coast:
https://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/video-db-cooper-researcher-casts-considerable-doubt-on-parachute-discovery-claim/?fbclid=IwY2xjawG0VjhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHewUN3SyHU97RcLKQEMeHpA13DPpnJO6eU3JCf-x6dOw7XtyaD1k7yEamg_aem_RMfWcVUvpCXi5ICqjt0b7A

58 Comments
2024/11/27
22:46 UTC

0

Finding Amelia Earhart - Vlog Episode : Many are not satisfied with the "official" story about the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. And for good reason. There's a lot more to the story than we've been told.

Finding Amelia Earhart - Vlog Episode - https://youtu.be/LKW_OvTaKRk

The mysterious dissappearance of Amelia Earhart on July 2nd, 1937 has captivated the attention of the world since that day. And over the years many theories have been developed about what happened to the famed flyer and her expert navigator. One main reason for that being the dissatisfaction with the "official" story that two very experienced pilots - ( and one of the best navigators in the world) just ran out of gas and fell into the ocean.

But as more and more details emerge, it is becoming clear that the "official" version of the events may simply be the story we were supposed to hear. As more information and eyewitness accounts surface and more declassified evidence is found, a very different story is unfolding.

EX: Marshall Islands - a place of interest

According to several researcers, multiple eyewitness accounts from people living on Mili Atoll located in the Marshall Islands at the time of Earharts disappearance, recall the crash landing of a silver plane flown by a woman and a man. Here is one of those accounts:

"Two Mili fishermen on Barre Island (Mili Atoll), Lijon and Jororo Alibar, saw a silver plane approach and crash-land on the nearby reef, breaking off part of its right wing. The two Marshallese hid in the underbrush and watched as two white people exited the wreck and came ashore in a yellow raft (.."yellow boat which grew"). A little while later Japanese soldiers arrived to take hold of the fliers. When the shorter flier screamed, the Marshallese realized one was a woman. They remained hidden until long after the captives were taken away."

2 Comments
2024/11/27
12:40 UTC

182

A highly prolific, uncredited voice actor was active in Hong Kong in the late 1960s and early 1970s. All named Hong Kong voice actors have been essentially ruled out, and no surviving colleagues remember him. If you've seen Godzilla and old martial arts films, you may have heard him.

This is arguably the most elusive film dub actor out there. At this point, all the leads are drying up and it is likely that we will never identify him. Too much time has passed, and the uncredited Hong Kong English dubbing scene itself was very secretive with intentionally little documentation, as it was a way for many English-speaking expats to moonlight. So as you can see there is very little to go by. Needless to say, I'm amazed that any Hong Kong dubbers have been identified, and this individual is the last remaining male Hong Kong English language film dubber of the late 1960s and early 1970s who has neither been definitively identified nor circumstantially linked to any named person.

One of the most used pseudonyms for this person is "Gengo", coined from his role as the lead protagonist from Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972), for which he is probably best remembered by the western kaiju fandom. 

Dubbing Wikia's detailed outline of "Gengo" presented chronologically along with a filmography:
https://dubbing.fandom.com/wiki/Gengo

A newer pseudonym that I have coined is the "Shaw Brothers Wang Yu Dubber", or SBWY for short, after his pattern of voicing martial arts superstar Jimmy Wang Yu in nearly all of the English dubs of Wang Yu's Shaw Brothers films, including a dub that may have been recorded several years later than his other roles as Wang Yu's English voice. This is one of the very few things we can flat out state about this unknown dubber, and so I find that on the one hand it is descriptive in a way that acknowledges a proven pattern of appearances instead of just referring to one specific dubbing role, while on the other hand it respects the fact that this dubber is known to western martial arts film fans, too, who have similarly speculated on who he might be. 

A compilation of the dubber's roles as SBWY:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL5gw5Z_SNg

The site Wikizilla has an article on this individual entitled "Unidentified Gengo Odaka dubber", while in the article itself he is referred to as "the unidentified dubber" or "the unidentified film dubber" or "Gengo's dubber". Wikizilla presents a more skimmable version of the information presented on Dubbing Wikia, splitting it into a section going into the dubber's potential identity and sections ruling out each named dubber who was active during his time:

https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Unidentified_Gengo_Odaka_dubber

YouTube user That VHS Guy calls him "Unidentified Hong Kong Voice Actor 1". The "#1" numeration is a coincidence; That VHS Guy uploaded many compilations of then-unidentified Hong Kong voice actors to his channel, and this dubber simply had the first compilation uploaded. Over time, the videos' titles have been updated as voice actors have been identified. This individual is the only unidentified dubber remaining on his channel. This is the compilation he uploaded of "Unidentified Hong Kong Voice Actor 1":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXQ_iNah0qM

As a personal aside, my name is Sydney Perkins and I am a career film preservationist, but I am also a very good researcher. I uploaded the SBWY compilation, and I wrote the bulk of the above two textual resources, which involved over a year of looking through online newspaper archives, online genealogical records, and online digitized Hong Kong government records. I also run a group that identifies old HK film dubbers, which has been instrumental in ruling out all known HK film dubbers as "suspects" and guaranteeing that this is a completely separate, unidentified person.

14 Comments
2024/11/26
21:14 UTC

54

Channel 6, AKA The Superbowl

On the citizens band, often used by truckers and radio amateurs, there is a channel that sticks out. It’s channel 6. Since the 80s, people have been transmitting themselves yelling repetitive nonsense at ridiculously large strengths. It seems to be a contest to see who has the strongest, loudest, transmitters. Some people have illegally used retired AM station transmitters on this channel, which are so powerful that they can be heard in other cb channels. They can be heard as far as Canada and Florida. The messages consist of phrases such as “He’s a real black man”, “Hey juice man I ain’t start no fight”, ”Mr body 3, ain’t nobody’s business”, “trigger onto northwest corners”, “Hey Nine ninety nine, you got a cover?”, “Number nine man”, “Ayo, man man I ain’t got no, Ay fat man, what kind of microphone you talkin’ on?” And so on. Many people wonder if the messages are pre-recorded, or if they are live. The same lines

7 Comments
2024/11/24
18:35 UTC

32

The Mystery of Buasjukan: Sweden's Peculiar Hip Pain Epidemic

0 Comments
2024/11/20
12:06 UTC

670

Who is this woman hidden in Shrek and why is she there?

In the first Shrek movie, when the Farquad Mascot runs from Shrek and Donkey and bumps into the gates, look at the booth on the right. Inside you can see what looks like a real woman's face attached to the wall, but slightly off, so not like a poster exactly but just there. A few others have noticed this on some subs like r/Shrek and youtuber ShaiiValley has done a video on it where he enhances it.

I don't know who first spotted it but in the booth on the left there's an Easter Egg where Z from Antz, another dreamworks movie, can be seen on a poster inside. I guess maybe someone checked out the other booth to see if anything else was hidden and instead found the face but Z's face is very well hidden too.

ShaiiValley says it could be Fiona's voice actress Cameron Diaz but he hasn't found a matching photo. Others have said it could be the face of one of the animators or someone the animator knew maybe sneaking it as a fun joke, after all who wouldn't want to be part of Shrek?

Others say it may have been some sort of error like something that wasn't meant to be put in but did, perhaps the animator was using a photo to test something and forgot to remove it. Or it could be a reflection but I don't know how that would end up part of the animation.

And no it wasn't just added in people have checked copies of the movie going as far back as VHS tapes and the face is there. It feels quite creepy knowing it was there all that time and we didn't notice it. I will also take this to r/celebritynumber6

https://preview.redd.it/q9zuy1gn5w1e1.png?width=1207&format=png&auto=webp&s=4b9d42e297198ad1f41a3c8101081f94b7893df7

75 Comments
2024/11/19
17:14 UTC

31

The strange case of the Great Mull Air Mystery

1 Comment
2024/11/18
12:07 UTC

128

Can anyone help me identify this scientist bear?

12 Comments
2024/11/05
05:20 UTC

82

Weird Subreddit Posts The Same Two Things

Hello! While searching for subreddits for toxic relationships I stumbled upon r/ToxicDreamz which caught my eye. It has an NSFW tag with just made me more curious. The subreddit’s posts are only made by two users: the creator and a person posting their nudes/amateur porn.

The posts made by the creator are always the same; these date back to 200+ days ago. The first post being, “I’ll be leaving Reddit.” and the second one is “Taking applications for new mod. we passed 300!!! need some help posting more regularly.”. When you click on the post it’ll always have the same sentences. The only time that the creator doesn’t post the same thing dates back to 2 years ago which is just reposted porn. The description of the subreddit has slang and bad grammar.

The second person posting is a person either promoting their porn or stealing someone else’s. The only time that the subreddit changes from the two posts is when this person posts. This account threw me off as I’m not entirely sure it’s the same person in every video. I didn’t look closely into the faces but the setting tends to change per post. The account posts the same videos to multiple transgender NSFW subreddits which not uncommon for these types of accounts. The posts don’t usually get a lot of attention in this specific subreddit which confuses me as to why they keep posting.

If anyone knows anything about this let me know. I’m sorry that my post was worded horribly I was kinda in a rush. Any information helps, thank you!

9 Comments
2024/10/26
17:17 UTC

52

In 1976, a massive bell created for the US Bicentennial celebrations disappeared on route to Washington. Or…is this story a hoax?

1 Comment
2024/10/10
11:10 UTC

60

Any Missing Money or lost fortunes/heirs mysteries?

I wasn’t really sure where to put this, but several months ago, I posted on the Unresolved Mysteries Subreddit about the mystery of George J. Stein, who was featured on Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack during its first season. Over the years, Unsolved Mysteries aired several segments about lost heirs during its original 12 seasons with Stack. Obviously, with today’s technology and DNA testing, it is much easier to find heirs of people who died without leaving a will so that a blood relative can claim their estate.

I’m wondering if there are any other TV shows, YouTube channels, or podcasts that cover cases of missing money or lost fortunes from people who passed away, whose family or identity has yet to be figured out? If you know of any cases like this—whether current or from years ago—please let me know about them. Also, again I ask if you know of any TV shows, podcasts, or YouTube channels that cover missing money or fortune cases to tell me about them so I can watch and listen to them. Thanks!

5 Comments
2024/10/09
03:43 UTC

20

What is the music that plays in this Pingu episode?

Since the Lost Media sub is not for unidentified media I felt like bringing this here. There's another song from another show I want to share here too but I'll do this one first.

This episode of Pingu I remember well called "Pingu and Pinga at home" has their parents go out to a concert which plays some famous music I can't remember what but it is famous, but my question here is what is the music that plays on the radio at home when Pingu and Pinga are having fun? The Pingu wiki page used to say it was called "off to the races" but then a comment on the page said this was not the case.

The episode is from the 90s and I wonder if those that made it could help.

9 Comments
2024/09/29
21:57 UTC

68

Eerie B&W Video Game Commercial from the late 90's Early 2000s

Hi all, I have been looking for this commercial for years and years, and hoping it rings a bell for someone.

I remember absolutely nothing about what system/game it was for, but it stuck with me since I saw it. It was only around for a few months and I never saw it again.

All I remember is that it was in black and white and showed a bunch of older people- the sort who wouldn't have usually played video games (at least back then ho ho ho)- doing really sinister things. Saying weird threatening things, for instance. The only specific frame I remember is a lady who looks like somebody's grandmother, leaning over a counter and fondling a knife. I just remember thinking "wtf is this???" and wondering why the ad had to be so creepy. It was very offputting and weird so of course that makes me want to see it again. Thanks marketing execs!

If anybody can recall seeing this and tell me what it is you would be mah hero.

14 Comments
2024/09/29
16:28 UTC

44

Where is Barrington Levy's album 'Survivor' ?

"Since 2011 Levy has been working on his long-awaited album Survivor (the album originally had the working title It's About Time. In 2017 he released the first single from the album GSOAT yet the album remains unreleased." This is the tiny bit of info on his wiki page.

The album was said to have star studded guests including Snoop Dogg, Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes and Beres Hammond.

The album would be his first of all original material in over 30 years, was it scrapped, is it still unfinished after all this time? not a huge mystery maybe but thought it's a little bit different and see what people think or if anyone has any more info

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grammy-nominated-reggae-artist-barrington-levy-releases-gsoat--a-single-from-his-highly-anticipated-upcoming-album-survivor-300429001.html

3 Comments
2024/09/27
07:34 UTC

128

Where does this bizarre dummy text come from? "Had men rose from down lady able. Its son him ferrars proceed six parlors..." and so on.

Update: I thought I'd rewrite this post as the picture is a little clearer now though the answer still eludes!

There is a text (or set of texts) floating around the internet that appears to be nonsense. Examples:

  • "Had men rose from down lady able. Its son him ferrars proceed six parlors. Her say projection age announcing decisively men. Few gay sir those green men timed downs widow chief. Prevailed remainder may propriety can and."
  • "Savings her pleased are several started females met."
  • "Middleton sportsmen sir now cordially ask additions for."
  • "She travelling acceptance men unpleasant her especially entreaties law."

There are some unique words ("ferrars", "middleton", "incommode") etc. that point to a single source for the words, and indeed all the words in the text apparently come from the novel "Sense and Sensibility" by Jane Austen - specifically an older rendering of the text that uses the words "shew" and "shewing" instead of "show" and "showing". (Thanks to u/bonzoflame for confirming). (I think "Nonsense and Sensibility" would be a good name for it!)

You can find the text(s) all over the web but some examples are here on Scribd.

The words seem to be picked at random from the text and assembled into sentences of varying length. My hunch is that this is truly random and there is nothing "smart" like a Markov chain or word-prediction going on, because the text does not generate any meaningful phrases or pick up on common phrases from the source text (e.g. "edward" and "ferrars" appear from the novel but never the name "Edward Ferrars").

The full text seems to be fixed and unchanging (i.e. it has been generated once and then duplicated many times) but appears in chunks of varying length, usually at least several paragraphs. It is clearly used as "dummy text" or "placeholder text" similar to Lorem ipsum.

The mystery is - and it is a very low-stakes mystery but still:

  • Who created this text?
  • When, and why?
  • Why has it spread so much?
  • Where do people find it when they want to find dummy text?

I guess it's fascinating because the text seems so creepy, like a mantra. It sounds like something the Hiss from Control would be saying. If you say it out loud it definitely will summon something.

A couple of things it's not:

24 Comments
2024/09/25
19:39 UTC

25

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 - Aircraft Disappearance (with narration video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGQA21wLglg

On a balmy night in Kuala Lumpur, March 8, 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 prepared for its routine journey to Beijing. Inside the bustling terminal, 227 passengers and 12 crew members boarded the aircraft, unaware that they were about to become part of one of the greatest aviation mysteries ever to take place.

Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a seasoned pilot with over 18,000 flight hours, and his first officer, Fariq Abdul Hamid, were at the helm. The plane lifted off the runway at 12:41 AM, ascending into the starlit sky. For the next 38 minutes, everything was as it should be. The aircraft reached its cruising and the crew exchanged routine communications with air traffic control.

At 1:19 AM, a calm voice from the cockpit delivered the final words heard from MH370: "Good night Malaysian Three Seven Zero." Shortly thereafter, the aircraft's transponder, which broadcasts location and altitude, went silent, and the plane vanished from radar screens as if it had never existed.

Puzzled air traffic controllers in Kuala Lumpur tried repeatedly to re-establish contact but were met with absolute silence. Initial searches focused on the South China Sea, the plane’s intended flight path, but no wreckage was found. Families of the passengers and crew waited in anguish, clinging to hope with growing uncertainty.

Days turned into weeks, and the search area expanded. Military radar data revealed a chilling twist: after losing contact, MH370 had deviated sharply from its course and out over the Andaman Sea. The aircraft continued to fly for hours, leaving many unanswered questions.

A British satellite telecommunications company provided the next clue. Their analysis of suggested MH370 had flown south, deep into the expanse of the southern Indian Ocean. This revelation shifted the search thousands of miles from the plane’s last known location.

An international effort ensued, deploying advanced technology and scouring millions of square miles of ocean floor. Yet, despite these exhaustive efforts, the sea refused to give up its secrets. It wasn't until July 29, 2015—more than a year after the disappearance—that a piece of the aircraft washed ashore on the distant island of Réunion, east of Madagascar. This discovery confirmed that MH370 had indeed met its end in the Indian Ocean, yet it brought little solace and very few answers.

Over the next several years, additional debris washed up on coastlines around the Indian Ocean. Each piece was a silent testament to the tragedy, yet none provided conclusive insights into what had happened during the plane’s final hours.

There were many theories about what could have caused the series of events to take place. Was it a mechanical failure, an act of terrorism, or something more insidious like pilot suicide? The Malaysian government’s report in 2018 acknowledged that the flight's course change was likely due to manual inputs but could not conclusively determine why or who was responsible.

The mystery of MH370 lingers on, sadly still affecting of those who lost loved ones and capturing the imagination of people worldwide. It serves as a stark and unsettling reminder of how, in an age of technological marvels, a massive airliner with 239 people can still disappear without a trace.

 

16 Comments
2024/09/16
19:34 UTC

54

Where is this brief old footage that appears in a documentary from?

I wanted to post this on lost media but they don't allow unidentifed media. I used to watch this Eyewitness dinosaur documentary over and over on VHS as a kid these books and their VHS series were popular in the 90s and 00s for kids. They use a lot of stock footage to go along with what they're talking about.

At the 6:55 mark of the dinosaur episode there's this footage I remember well as a kid where the narrator talks about a dinner party being held in one of the dinosaur sculptures made in the olden days for London's crystal palace park.

We see some old footage of two women having dinner (which I used to think was from the actual event he's talking about when it's actually made to give a sort of liminal feel of what it looked like). One is talking but I can't make out anything she's saying especially when the narrator starts talking again apart from "nothing coarse about that."

I was curious to know where this footage I've remembered so well over the years was from but the wiki page for this episode and the IMDB page have no information about this footage, only the other footage that appears. I think though some more footage from the episode isn't identified either like some guys digging and a Chinese dragon parade. I wonder if we could figure out where it's from thanks for any help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKpOHAbFxx4&t=1702s&ab_channel=CraskPillord

11 Comments
2024/09/16
16:55 UTC

50

The Most Mysterious Song In Australia

5 Comments
2024/09/11
11:14 UTC

18

Mussolini's lost sword of Islam

1 Comment
2024/09/10
11:12 UTC

119

"Celebrity Number 6" has been found. She is model Leticia Sarda. [Lost Artifact]

1 Comment
2024/09/10
11:11 UTC

75

Personal low-stakes toilet paper mystery

One of my two flatmates have been binning a large amount of used toilet paper in the bathroom bin. The bin starts overflowing on a regular basis. For context, they are both guys, and the toilet is in perfect working order and is able to flush paper. I am just confused and want to know why they are putting such a big quantity of paper in the trash, I don't want to ask either of them because that would be a bit awkward.

Edit: I think it is shit, this disturbs me because they regularly let the bin overflow and there is no bin liner in there

35 Comments
2024/09/07
21:22 UTC

500

From 1950-1983, the quiet English village of Seascale endured a childhood leukemia death rate 10X above the national average. When a documentary brought this to light in 1983, scrutiny immediately turned to a nearby nuclear plant. Scientists today have a more surprising—and mysterious—explanation.

Seascale, as you might guess, is a small, picturesque village by the sea. What you might not guess is that the village is located 1 mile south of the Sellafield Nuclear Reprocessing Plant, the largest nuclear site in Europe, which converts spent fuel from nuclear reactors around the world into reusable products. The establishment of the site in 1950 was a boon for the local economy, and attracted skilled professionals from across the country to live and work in Seascale. Link

In October 1957, Sellafield experienced the worst nuclear accident in British history, when a uranium cartridge ruptured due to overheating. A fire burned for 16 hours and released radioactive fission products into the atmosphere; this included an estimated 20,000 curies released from iodine-131, which was blown by wind over a wide swathe of Western Europe. Subsequent testing found the highest levels of iodine-131 by far in milk, leading the British government to ban the sale of milk over a 200-square-mile area for several weeks. In total, about 3 million liters of milk were dumped. Iodine-131 concentrates in the thyroid, raising fears of a surge in thyroid cancer cases. Following the incident, local testing revealed high levels of radioiodine—up to 16 rads—in the thyroid glands of children, who are most susceptible to thyroid cancer. However, a study published on 16 August 2024 found no increase in thyroid cancer cases among children following the accident, in contrast to more major accidents such as Chernobyl. Link, link, link

The Seascale childhood cancer cluster

"Windscale: the nuclear laundry" was not an unbiased documentary, but after first airing on 1 November 1983 on Yorkshire Television, it triggered a debate and mystery that has lingered for decades. The documentary identified a cluster of childhood leukemia cases in Seascale, and blamed it squarely on radioactive discharge from the nearby Sellafield nuclear site. An epidemiological study published in the British Medical Journal on 3 October 1987 confirmed that, between 1950 and 1983, childhood leukemia deaths in Seascale were 10 times above the national average; childhood deaths from all other cancers were 4 times above average. Link, link

The investigation committees

In 1983, the Minister of Health commissioned an independent advisory group, led by Sir Douglas Black, to investigate the Seascale cancer cluster. In 1984, the advisory group published a major report confirming the existence of the cluster, and made recommendations for a series of further studies to determine its cause. This led to the creation of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) in November 1985, which over 40 years has published a total of 19 reports on the Seascale cancer cluster, the health effects of radiation, and related matters. COMARE operates under the Department of Health and Social Care, but provides advice to and hosts scientists and experts from a wide range of government departments. It has directed the decades-long investigation into the cause of the Seascale cancer cluster, which will now be discussed. Link

The cause

Radioactive discharge from the Sellafield nuclear site

It's a theory that has now fallen out of favor, but given the proximity of the nuclear plant, and the known role of radiation in leukemia pathogenesis, it had to be investigated immediately. At Sellafield, high-radioactivity waste is stored on-site, but low-radioactivity waste is discharged into the air, and also 2 km into the sea via pipelines; regulations limit the amount of waste that may be discharged. Radiation can cause mutations in blood cells which can drive the development of leukemia. Link, link

However, the radiation emitted from these activities is far too low to explain the Seascale cancer cluster. The exposure to the local population is just a few percent of background radiation, which comes from a variety of natural sources such as radon gas from the ground and even potassium-40 in bananas. COMARE's fourth report, published on 1 March 1996, concluded that, based on known science, radiation from Sellafield would not have caused a single excess leukemia death. Link, link

Carcinogenic chemicals from the Sellafield nuclear site

Sellafield workers are known to be exposed to a range of carcinogenic chemicals, such as formaldehyde and trichloroethylene, through their occupation. However, despite their exposure and the local cancer cluster, these workers are not at increased risk for cancer, and there is no association between exposure to these chemicals and the identified childhood cancer cases. This was the subject of a major Health and Safety Executive report published in October 1993. Link, link, link

Random chance

A death rate ten times above the national average is horrifying. That said, you may be a bit surprised if you look at the raw numbers. Seascale is a small village, and there were only about 1000 births between 1950 and 1983. At national rates, Seascale should have seen 0.5 deaths from leukemia below age ten; it instead endured 5 leukemia deaths. For all other cancers—Seascale should have seen 1 death, at national rates; it instead endured 4 deaths. Link

These are small numbers. Was it just bad luck? That is highly unlikely. A statistical analysis published on 9 January 1993 calculated a less than 1% probability that the cancer cluster was caused by random chance. By COMARE's 2005 analysis, the Seascale cluster is the most severe childhood leukemia cluster in England. Link, link, link

Virus

The final possibility, and the current scientific consensus, is perhaps also the most horrifying. A trail of clues suggest that an unknown virus or viruses are responsible for a significant number of leukemia cases.

  1. A rare subtype of leukemia known as adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is known to be caused by human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV-1). This disease was not detected in Seascale, but its etiology demonstrates that a virus can cause blood cancer. HTLV-1 is a retrovirus which modifies the genome of infected cells, transforming healthy T cells into cancer cells. Link
  2. Migration and population mixing increase the incidence of leukemia, indicating the presence of an unidentified infectious agent. For example, rural communities which have high growth rates from migration and which have transient workforces suffer from greater leukemia death rates. These communities include new settlements, and areas near military bases and major infrastructure construction projects. Link, link, link, link
  3. Which brings us back to Seascale. The village expanded greatly between the 1950s and the 1970s amidst the construction of new housing for workers at Sellafield, who came from across the country to live and work in Seascale. Its population increased threefold in the 1950s alone. The theory is that these newcomers continually introduced new viruses to the community, triggering a silent epidemic that eventually became a leukemia cluster. Link, link, link

What virus was responsible?

Here, the answer remains a mystery. No virus has been identified as the cause of the Seascale cancer cluster.

Associations have been found between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), where higher levels of virus are correlated with presence of the disease and poor prognosis. However, it is unclear whether the virus drives CLL or whether CLL makes individuals more susceptible to EBV due to a weakened immune system. EBV infection is very common, with 90% of people being infected—most during childhood. Severe complications, such as cancer, are nonetheless very rare. Similarly, the Seascale cluster and other leukemia clusters may have been caused by a virus that is widespread, like EBV, but that only causes complications in a small fraction of cases. This would make it hard to identify. Link, link

Professor Mel Greaves argues that leukemia is driven primarily by the immune response to a pathogen, rather than by a specific pathogen. Infections, whether viral or bacterial, strain the immune system and stimulate it to produce more cells to send into blood circulation, which increases the risk of an oncogenic mutation. Link

The end of an epidemic

What happened was a tragedy, but it is also now history. The Seascale childhood cancer cluster no longer exists. A study published on 22 July 2014 showed that it ended around 1990, and—mercifully—there have been no childhood leukemia deaths since. Link

18 Comments
2024/09/01
07:30 UTC

157

What’s the story behind these weird book covers? Something that needs some digging.

14 Comments
2024/08/30
22:06 UTC

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